Editorial Product Review:Album Description:Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Universal. 2006. essential recording:Songs in the Key of Life (1976) was the highest high point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than Innervisions and Talking Book, this two-LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner than either of those masterworks. That Songs retains an enormous amount of visionary relevance, though, is demonstrated not only in Coolio's borrowing of 'Pastime Paradise' as ...
Editorial Product Review: :This compilation includes 15 of Marvin Gaye's signature songs, including 9 No. 1 soul-chart hits. It's a handy compression of his Motown career, but those who want a deeper understanding of the artist should opt at the very least for the packed double-disc Best of Marvin Gaye. --Rickey Wright
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicized soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalized it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavoring it with layer upon layer ...
Editorial Product Review: :A brave effort at cramming one disc full of Temptations classics, The Ultimate Collection nevertheless makes a couple of puzzling choices. Why, for instance, include 'Error of Our Ways,' a very minor mid-'90s hit, and ignore 'Beauty Is Only Skin Deep' or 'I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You),' both number ones from their classic period? Still, for the price, it's hard to argue with. --Rickey Wright
Editorial Product Review: :A towering figure in postwar American music, for over 40 years James Brown has written, produced, and performed some of the most compelling R&B ever recorded. 20 All Time Greatest Hits! distills Startime!, itself a four-CD set that barely scratched the surface of Brown's prodigious output. As such, this collection concentrates on Brown's best-known records: 'I Feel Good,' 'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag,' and 'Cold Sweat.' The propulsive one- or two-chord vamps with Brown's hoarse, declamatory ...
Editorial Product Review: :Cramming 25 songs onto a single CD, this set captures the Tops during their peak 1960s years, when they rode the pens of Holland, Dozier, and Holland to the top of the charts. Combining the writers' pop melodies, a gentle Motown groove, and Levi Stubbs' earthy lead vocals, the group landed 11 Top 40 singles by 1967, all of which are included on this compilation. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Collection omits later gems such as 'Keeper of the ...
Editorial Product Review: :Put on Roll With You, the new album from Boston-based sou band Eli Paperboy Reed & The True Loves, and chances are you ll immediately feel the urge to either dance or cry. ''That first response to a record is the most important,'' says frontman Eli Reed. ''If a record comes on and makes you wantto dance right away, then you re doing a good job. If a record comes on and makes you want to ...
Editorial Product Review: essential recording:One of Stevie Wonder's best albums, and the one where his more fanciful, free-form moments gel perfectly with his knack for irresistible pop singles, 1973's Innervisions swings between delicate and airy ballads, Latin-influenced rhythms (the hit 'Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing'), and his own synth-heavy versions of gut-bucket soul (the determined spiritual questing of 'Higher Ground'). The striking juxtaposition between 'Vision,' a barely breathed hope that a world of peace might be upon us, and ...
Editorial Product Review: :Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 25-cut disc is the single most impressive one of Motown's Ultimate Collection series (which features 17 artists). Combining Smokey's endlessly inventive twists on romance (good and bad) with the Miracles' handful of straight-up party hits, it showcases one of American pop's most sure-footed and touching acts. The frontman's prowess as singer, writer, and producer lights up each of these single mixes; less-celebrated tracks like 'My Girl Has Gone,' '(You Can) Depend on ...
Usually we're fans of Logitech's gaming mice, but its highest-end G9 Laser Mouse is expensive, overly complex, and lacks the ergonomic thought we've come to expect. If you like to brag about dot-per-inch limits, perhaps the G9's 3,200dpi laser will be enough to sell you, but for the price, we expect the design to match.
